[SNAP]
(WHISPERING) Shh.
Here at Consumer Reports, they test everyday items
that are surprisingly loud.
Listen up.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Jack, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Hey, Eric.
Before you start that-- hey, how are you doing, man?
Listen, you've got to wear some air protection
while you're doing that, man.
Why?
Some of these leaf blowers are loud enough
that they could damage your hearing within about 15 minutes
of using it.
But you're not going to be able to hear me
if you do that right now.
What?
[LAUGHS]
Did you say something?
Oh, hold on a second.
Oh, OK.
There we go.
Now I'm all ears to hear how the teams here
test common household items to see how loud they can get.
We use a sound meter here for everything that we test.
So you're blowing the leaves.
And there's somebody standing up here taking a measurement.
This is recording decibels.
Going into the ear.
Yep.
And this will tell us how loud every leaf blower is
and how dangerous it can be.
But leaf blowers are just one of some two dozen common household
products tested here.
Vacuums, air purifiers, refrigerators, blenders,
dishwashers.
Blenders?
Yeah.
Huh.
Yeah, you want me to show you?
Yeah, that'd be great.
All right, come on.
Let's go check out the lab.
All right, let's go.
[BOING]
Blenders are loud, Jack.
How loud?
Really loud.
[BLENDER WHIRRING]
Most of the blenders in our rating
are 85 decibels or louder, for which, normally, we would
recommend hearing protection.
So are you telling me that I should
be wearing hearing protection when I use my blender?
Well, if you were using it like a lawnmower,
for 45 minutes at a time, then yes, definitely.
But because you only use a blender for less than a
minute or so, usually, you're probably OK.
OK.
All right, let me show you something else.
Sure.
So this is where we test dishwashers.
And not just for how loud they are, but also how irritating.
You can use a sound meter.
But there's something that we like to use as well.
Which is what?
The human ear.
Ah.
Are these the human ears?
So these guys literally listen to the full cycle
of every dishwasher we test and make notes about whether or not
the sounds are annoying, like the water coming
into the machine, draining, which
might make a squeaky sound from the pump, the soap
dispenser opening up.
That clack, does that annoy you when
you're sitting on the couch watching TV
and you decide to put on the dishwasher
before you go to bed?
A lot of those sounds can add up into what
we call sound quality.
When you're a sound panelist, it's not a sprint,
it's a marathon.
How long do they have to be there?
Some of these cycles go for two and a half or more hours.
Two and a half hours?
And how many machines do you have?
Well, there's over 100 dishwashers in the ratings.
So you can do the math on that one.
Yeah.
Shh, quiet!
(WHISPERING) We're being too loud.
Jack, come on.
That was great, useful information.
Thanks a lot, Eric.
I appreciate it.
No problem, Jack.
That's what we're here for.
Hey, by the way, there's a family
that wants to ask a question.
Let's ask CR.
Hey, Jack.
I'm Lauren.
My brother always tells me to turn down
my music in my headphones.
But how much damage can it really do?
So what about headphones and music?
Well, prolonged exposure to loud music or noise
can definitely cause hearing damage.
And that's one of the reasons why
we recommend noise-canceling headphones,
because they cancel the outside noise,
and it allows you to listen to the music at a lower volume.
There's less chance of damaging your hearing.
Now, back to some unfinished business.
All right, Jack, we can't just "leaf" this pile here.
[LAUGHS]
I think we've got to blow this pile out of the way.
But safety first.
Always.
All right, let's go.
[SNAP]